Lekopanye Mooketsi
14 March 2008
Gaborone — Once more, the opposition raises objections to continued use of state resources to facilitate BDP business. This time, the opposition complains that Vice President Ian Khama and a BDP team could use presidential transport to attend 'star' rallies at Palapye and Hukuntsi today.
As the countdown to the Kgalagadi North and Palapye by-elections gains momentum, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) seems to be using state resources to bolster its campaign. The by elections will be held on Saturday in the two constituencies. Today the BDP will hold star rallies in Hukuntsi and Palapye which will be addressed by Vice President and party chairman, Ian Khama, and former secretary general, Daniel Kwelagobe. Hukuntsi and Palapye are hundreds of kilometres apart and to address meetings in the villages on the same day, one would only have to travel by air. This means that a presidential helicopter will be made available for Khama and his entourage for the whole day.
Botswana National Front publicity secretary, Moeti Mohwasa pointed out that although Khama is entitled to official transport, he should not be piloting army aircraft. Mohwasa said to make matters worse, other BDP officials will accompany Khama on the campaign trail. "He is not supposed to be accompanied by a BDP entourage," he said. To him, this shows that the BDP is campaigning using state resources. He added that the playing ground is not level because the BDP is taking advantage of being the party in power. The publicity secretary of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Dumelang Saleshando, argued that the elections 'might be free but (they are) not fair'. Saleshando said if state funding of political parties was available, nobody would be objecting to the BDP using its own aircraft. Saleshando said Kwelagobe and other BDP officials are not supposed to be in the aircraft. He hinted that the BDP is also abusing the official media. He added that the two BDP rallies would be covered on Btv news in the evening to influence voters.
But BDP deputy executive secretary, Fidelis Molao, dismissed the opposition concerns as 'a tired argument'. He insisted that the Vice President is entitled to official transport. "There is nothing wrong if he is going to address rallies in Kgalagadi and Palapye," he quipped. Molao said Khama will not be accompanied by any BDP officials to Kgalagadi. He said Kwelagobe and other BDP officials are already in Kgalagadi. But he does not see anything wrong with Kwelagobe hiking on Khama's aircraft to go to Palapye. The BDP official said his party has an advantage because of being the incumbent party in power. "There is nothing you can do about it. When you contest with the incumbent, you can't complain," he said.
He said if the BNF takes power, the president will be entitled to official transport for party affairs. "You can't source private transport for the president," he argued. Molao said the issue of using state resources does not tally with the demand for political funding. He said the issue of political funding should be debated on a different platform. Molao said there are some BDP officials like himself who are in support of political party funding. However, he said, the majority of party members do not support the funding of political parties by the state. In the past, opposition parties protested about Khama's continued piloting of BDF aircrafts especially when he was attending his party's political functions.
At the time Khama was personally flying Botswana Defence Force helicopters. The BCP filed a complaint with the Ombudsman opposing Khama's actions. But outgoing President, Festus Mogae insisted at the time that Khama is entitled to 'official' transport as the VP.
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